John Obi Mikel, the former Chelsea midfielder, has alleged that he was unfairly deprived of the African Footballer of the Year Award in 2013.
Despite winning the 2013 AFCON in South Africa, Mikel lost the prestigious individual award to Manchester City legend, Yaya Toure.
In an interview with Dubai Eye 103.8, Mikel claimed that he was informed that he had won the award before the presentation, but was left shocked when Toure was announced as the winner and everyone left the stage.
Mikel expressed his disappointment and suggested that he was robbed of the award.
“I was at the airport flying to Nigeria because the ceremony was in Nigeria, and Man City was playing, and Yaya Toure scored two goals.
“I won the Nations cup (AFCON), I won the Europa League and a year before that, I won the Champions League. There is no way I wouldn’t have won it. I knew I had won it. It doesn’t matter how many goals he scored. I was in my prime, playing a lot of games.
“You could have seen the ceremony. Before it was even announced, everybody left the stage, people left.”
